вторник, 2 августа 2016 г.

The Far Right in the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine (Report)

From the very
beginning, the armed conflict that broke out in the Donbass in the spring of
2014 drew in right-wing radicals, on the Ukrainian as well as on the Russian
side. Organised ultra-nationalist groups and individual activists established
their own units of volunteers or joined existing ones.

The ideology,
political traditions and general track record of these right-wing extremists
meant that it was both natural and inevitable that they would take an active
part in the conflict. Yet the role of right-wing radicals on both sides has on
the whole been exaggerated in the media and in public discussion. This article
demonstrates that Russia’s use of right-wing radicals on the side of the
“separatists” in Donetsk and Lugansk provinces had greater military and
political repercussions than the involvement of Ukrainian far-right groups in
the “anti-terrorist operation”. The general course of the conflict, meanwhile,
caused the importance of far right-groups on both sides to decline.